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Historical fire pits were sometimes constructed in the ground, within caves, or at the center of a hut or home. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made flames is present on all five inhabited continents. The disadvantage of premature indoor flame pits was that they generated hazardous or irritating smoke within the dwelling.Fire pits grown into raised hearths in structures, but venting smoke relied on open windows or holes in roofs. The great hall typically needed a centrally located hearth, where a open flame burned with the smoke rising to the port in the roof. Louvers were developed throughout the Middle Ages to enable the roof vents to be coated so rain and snow wouldn't enter.

Also throughout the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were invented to stop smoke from spreading through a room and vent it out via a wall or roof. These can be put against rock walls, rather than taking up the middle of the space, and this allowed smaller rooms to be heated.Chimneys were devised in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the problem of fumes, more reliably venting smoke outside. They made it possible to give the fireplace a draft, and also made it feasible to put fireplaces in multiple rooms in buildings conveniently. They didn't come into general use immediately, however, since they were expensive to build and maintain.

In 1678 Prince Rupert, nephew of Charles I, increased the grate of the fireplace, improving the venting and airflow system. The 18th century saw two important developments in the history of fireplaces. Benjamin Franklin developed a convection room for the fireplace which greatly improved the efficiency of fireplaces and wood stoves. In addition, he enhanced the airflow by pulling air from a basement and venting out a longer area on very top. At the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace using a tall, shallow firebox that has been better at drawing up the smoke and out of the construction. The shallow design also improved greatly the quantity of radiant heat projected to the room. Rumford's layout is the basis for modern kitchens.

Instead it relied on simple layouts with small unnecessary ornamentation. In the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way into the Arts and Crafts movement, in which the emphasis was placed on providing quality gems. Stone fireplaces at this time were a sign of prosperity, which to a degree is still the notion today.A fireplace is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for its relaxing ambiance they create and also for heating a space. Modern fireplaces change in heat efficiency, depending on the plan.

Historically they have been used for heating a home, cooking, and heating water for laundry and domestic uses. A fireplace may have the following: a base, a hearth, a firebox, a mantelpiece; a chimney crane (utilized in laundry and kitchen fireplaces), a grate, a lintel, a lintel bar, house overmantel, a damper, a smoke chamber, a throat, a flue, and a chimney filter or afterburner.

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On the exterior there is often a corbeled brick crown, in which the casting courses of brick act as a drip route to keep rainwater from running down the outside walls. A cap, hood, or shroud serves to keep rainwater from the exterior of the chimney; rain in the chimney is a much greater difficulty in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metallic liners than with the traditional masonry chimney, which soaks up all but the most violent rain. Some chimneys have a spark arrestor integrated into the cap or crown.

The EPA writes"Smoke may smell good, but it's not great for you.

Kinds of fireplacesManufactured fireplaces are made out of sheet glass or metal flame boxes.Electric fireplaces can be built-in replacements for gas or wood or retrofit with log inserts or electrical fireboxes.A few kinds are, wall mounted electric fireplaces, electric fireplace stoves, electrical mantel fireplaces and fixed or free standing gas fireplaces.

Masonry and prefabricated fireplaces can be fueled by wood, natural gas, biomass and propane fuel sources. Ventless Fireplaces (duct free/room-venting fireplaces) are fueled by gel, liquid propane, bottled gas or natural gas. In the USA, some states and local businesses have laws restricting these kinds of fireplaces. They need to be suitably sized to the area to be heated. There are also air quality management issues because of the quantity of moisture that they release into the room air, and oxygen detector and carbon monoxide sensors are security essentials. Direct vent fireplaces are fueled by either liquid propane or natural gas. They are totally sealed from the place that is heated, and port all exhaust gasses to the outside of the structure.

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AccessoriesFor the interior, common in current Western civilizations comprise grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, bark baskets, along with fire dogs, all of which cradle fuel and accelerate burning. A grate (or flame grate) is a framework, usually of iron bars, to retain fuel for a fire. Heavy metallic firebacks are occasionally used to capture and re-radiate warmth, to protect the rear of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metallic frames placed in front of the fireplace to contain embers, soot and ash. For fireplace tending, tools include pokers, bellows, tongs, shovels, brushes and tool racks.

As time passes, the intent behind fireplaces has changed from one of necessity to one of interest. Early ones were fire pits than modern fireplaces. They were used for warmth on chilly days and nights, in addition to for cooking. They also functioned as a gathering place within the home. These fire pits were usually based within a room, allowing more people to gather around it.

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Many defects were found in early fireplace designs. Together with the Industrial Revolution, came big scale housing developments, necessitating a standardization of fireplaces. The most famous fireplace performers of the time were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a kind of fireplace design which was used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly colored, with an emphasis on the quality of the materials used in their construction, as opposed to their dimensions.

By the 1800s newest fireplaces were composed of two parts, the surround as well as the insert. The encircle consisted of the mantlepiece and sides affirms, usually in wood, marble or granite. The insert was where the fire burned, and was built of cast iron often backed with ornamental tiles. In addition to providing warmth, the fireplaces of the Victorian age were thought to bring a cozy ambiance to houses.

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Some fireplace units include a blower which transfers more of the fireplace's heat to the atmosphere via convection, resulting in a more evenly heated area and a decrease heating load. Fireplace efficiency is also increased with the use of a fireback, a piece of metal which sits behind the flame and reflects heat back into the room. Firebacks are traditionally produced from cast iron, but can also be made from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complicated notion although with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficiency tests consider just the impact of heating of the atmosphere. An open fireplace is not, and never was, intended to heat the atmosphere. A fireplace with a fireback is a radiant heater, and has done so since the 15th century. The ideal method to gauge the output of a fireplace is if you notice you are turning the thermostat down or up.

Most elderly fireplaces have a comparatively low efficiency score. Standard, modern, wood-burning masonry fireplaces still possess an efficiency rating of at least 80% (legal minimum requirement such as in Salzburg/Austria). To improve efficiency, fireplaces can also be modified by inserting special heavy fireboxes developed to burn much cleaner and may reach efficiencies as high as 80 percent in heating the air. These modified fireplaces are usually equipped with a massive fire window, allowing an efficient heating process in two stages. During the first phase the initial heat is offered through a large glass window while the flame is burning. During this time period the construction, built of refractory bricks, absorbs the heat. This heat is then evenly radiated for many hours during the second stage. Masonry fireplaces with no glass fire window only offer heat radiated from its surface. Based on temperatures 1 to 2 daily firings are enough to guarantee a constant room temperature.fireplace mantels